I’ve been a diehard Mafia series fan since the first game launched back in 2002, so when I got early access to the latest entry, I cleared my entire weekend to play through the full campaign and test every feature for this Mafia: The Old Country PS5 review. I went in with pretty high expectations, especially after the mixed reception of Mafia 3, and I walked away with a lot of thoughts that don’t line up with the early hot takes I’ve seen floating around social media. This isn’t just a generic open-world crime game – it’s a love letter to classic gangster films, with some of the sharpest writing I’ve seen in a game all year, even with a few noticeable flaws that hold it back from being perfect.
Mafia: The Old Country PS5 Review: Performance and Visual Quality on Next-Gen Hardware
The PS5 version of the game comes with two graphics settings, and I tested both extensively across my 25-hour playthrough. Performance mode targets 60fps at 1440p upscaled to 4K, and performance mode runs at a locked 60fps 99% of the time, with only tiny, unnoticeable drops during massive shootouts with 20+ NPCs on screen. Quality mode drops the framerate to 30fps to enable ray tracing for lighting and reflections, and while the visuals look stunning when you’re wandering the cobblestone streets at night, there are noticeable stutters during fast driving that make it less ideal for regular play. Load times are almost non-existent, even when fast traveling across the entire map, so you never have to sit around waiting for the game to catch up between missions. The DualSense features are also a nice touch: you feel the weight of a Tommy gun’s recoil in your hands, the rumble of a vintage V8 engine on bumpy roads, and even the subtle resistance of a trigger when you pull back to fire a revolver.
Narrative and Character Work That Feels Like a Classic Scorsese Flick
The story follows Luca, a 22-year-old Sicilian immigrant who moves to the fictional city of Lost Heaven in 1932 to escape poverty back home, and quickly gets wrapped up in the local mafia family after a chance run-in with a crew of made men. What makes the story stand out from other crime games is that it doesn’t glorify gang life – it shows the ugly side too, from the guilt of hurting innocent people to the constant paranoia of being betrayed by people you trust. The writing avoids the over-the-top gangster clichés that plague most crime games, and every side character feels like a real person with their own motivations and flaws, not just a quest giver that exists to hand you tasks. Some of the best moments in the game are the quiet ones, like sitting in a diner with your crew talking about your families back home, or helping your little sister with her homework after a long day of running jobs for the family.
Gameplay: Balancing Realism and Fun For Casual and Hardcore Fans
One thing I really appreciated about Mafia: The Old Country on PS5 is that it doesn't force you to engage with the open world if you don't want to. If you just want to play through the main story, you can do that without ever stopping to do side content, and the flow feels perfectly natural. The driving mechanics are a nice middle ground between the hyper-realistic driving from the first Mafia game and the arcadey driving from GTA: vintage cars feel heavy and slow to turn, but you don’t have to worry about getting pulled over for speeding unless you’re driving recklessly right in front of a cop. The combat is also tight: cover shooting feels responsive, melee attacks have real weight to them, and you can use almost any environmental object you can pick up as a weapon, from beer bottles to pool cues to wooden chairs. Stealth sections are actually optional for almost every mission, so if you hate sneaking around, you can just burst through the front door guns blazing without any penalty. The only real downside to the gameplay is that the open world filler activities are pretty generic: the collectibles scattered around the city don’t give any meaningful rewards, and the random street crimes you can stop get repetitive after a few hours.
Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Buy Mafia: The Old Country on PS5
This game isn’t for everyone, and it’s important to go in with the right expectations. If you’re a fan of the Mafia series, or you love narrative-driven single-player games that prioritize story over endless open world bloat, this is an absolute must-buy. If you played the Mafia 1 remake and loved its focus on story over open world bloat, Mafia: The Old Country on PS5 is right up your alley. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a game with hundreds of hours of content, or you want a multiplayer mode to play with friends, you’re going to be disappointed. If you pick up the deluxe edition, you get 2 extra story chapters and a bunch of exclusive cars and weapons that are actually worth the extra $10, so that’s a good deal if you know you’re going to love the game. If you’re on the fence, you can wait for a small sale, but even at full price, the 40+ hours of content you get make it well worth the cost.
At the end of the day, this Mafia: The Old Country PS5 review comes down to one simple fact: this is the best entry in the series since the original 2002 game, even with its small flaws. It doesn't try to compete with giant open world games that have endless side content and live service grinds, and that's a good thing – it focuses on what the Mafia series has always done best: tell a tight, emotional story about loyalty and betrayal in a world that feels lived-in and real. If you've been waiting for a great single-player crime game that doesn't force you to grind for battle passes or play with strangers, this is exactly what you're looking for. I've already replayed three of the story missions since I beat the campaign, and I'm planning to go back for a second playthrough on hard mode next month.
